Articles

Mythbuster Extraordinaire: How Benedict Tackled False Christologies

Christians sense there is something radically wrong in trying to put Christ into strange molds, where long-held Christian beliefs about Christ are attacked from all sides. As Benedict stated in his Dunwoodie address to seminarians, to see … [Read more...]

Sticks, Stones, and Broken Bones: The History of Anti-Catholic Violence in the U.S.

We do not recall these instances of anti-Catholicism to foster more animosity or violence, but recall them as part of our history, a history that, like so many others, included the targeting of ethnic and religious groups for … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Does the Church state that there is an ideal form of government? What Magisterial status does the teaching of the popes on contraception enjoy?  Can it be changed?  Must we believe it? Plato, St. Thomas Aquinas, and A … [Read more...]

“Ressourcement,” “Aggiornamento,” and Vatican II in Ecumenical Perspective

(S)ome interpreters of Vatican II took renewal to be merely a matter of the Church’s adaptation or accommodation to the standards of the modern world ... they took aggiornamento as an “isolated motive for renewal” ... simply adapting to the … [Read more...]

Competing Theories of Christ’s Atonement: Penal Substitution, Economic Transaction, or Obediential Love?

The Passion is understood as an act of a personal God atoning for the personal offense of sin. The personalist understanding of the atonement is deeply linked to the framework of the relationship between Christ and the members of his … [Read more...]

Let More Sunshine in Your Life

A gentle man understands it is wiser to live without anger than to try to make moderate use of it. He knows that as soon as he is surprised by anger, it is better to turn from it than to start a discussion with it. The woman caught in … [Read more...]

Breaking Down the Barriers to Prayer

The heart hardens with a kind of moral crust that excludes compassion for others and prevents communication with others, especially God. Habits of sin, especially the seven deadly sins, keep us focused on our own pleasure, honor, and … [Read more...]

Catholic Ecumenism: Towards an Integration of Faith, Hope, and Charity

The purpose of this one Church is to bring about the supernatural communion of all humanity together in the Spirit, under Christ as head, giving praise to the Father.  Popes Pius XI, Pius XII, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Pope F … [Read more...]

Teaching the Faith: Contributions from Thomas Aquinas

God's love, mediated through the articles of faith, is a communication of God's love speaking to us. Those who hear, and cling to the merciful speech of God, in faith, are the ones who attain this saving knowledge.   "But when the Son of M … [Read more...]

Time to Abandon the Genesis Story?

Legitimate science can never assert that Adam and Eve are impossible. It might claim that they are improbable, but never impossible. God’s omnipotence can always make short work of long odds.   Is the Genesis story of a literal Adam and Ev … [Read more...]

The Glory of the Mass

Obviously, the Mass is a glorious thing. It is the way God continues to feed his people; it is the way Jesus Christ—God made flesh—keeps his promise never to leave us orphans. Those who attend daily Mass have been given an unmatchable gra … [Read more...]

Home and School in American Catholic Life

This essay argues that understanding the historical reasons why Catholic schools and homeschooling arose can help one to see how both may contribute to the revitalization of a Catholic subculture and American society in complementary w … [Read more...]

The Problem with “A Personal Relationship with Jesus”

... a baptized, confirmed Catholic who faithfully partakes of the sacraments of reconciliation and Holy Communion in the manner prescribed by the Church certainly has a “personal relationship” with Jesus, whether or not he or she uses that p … [Read more...]

Shakespeare and the Franciscan Order

Shakespeare’s most famous Franciscan character is Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet. ... Friar Laurence indirectly relates tragic paradox to divine power; grace so fills the world that evil can be brought out of good, yet, good can also d … [Read more...]

Decoding Vatican II’s Marian Paradigm Shift

This Vatican II Mariological paradigmatic shift reverberated into all areas of ecclesial theology and liturgy, through a new hermeneutic or interpretation that went beyond the council’s purview and became what is described as a new ethos, t … [Read more...]